Tension-regulator for winding mechanisms.



PATENTED IANJ24, 1905.

N6. 780,576. v I

I 0. P. OBERMAIER.

TENSION REGULATOR FOR WINDING MECHANISMS.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 1,1904

' Wz'ZI wsses:

UNITED STATES Patented January 24, 1905".

PATENT OFFICE.

TENSION-REGULATOR FOR 'WINDING MECHANISMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 780,576, dated January 24, 1905.

Application filed July 1, 1904:. Serial No. 214,876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL F. OBERMAIER, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at Yonkers, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tension-Regulators for Winding Mechanisms, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming apart of the same.

The invention subject of my present application was made and developed as an improvement in mechanism for insulating wires, and was originally designed for the purpose of regulating the tension on the wire as it is- Sued from the braiders and passed to the winding spools or reels. The braiders in such machines are provided with feed devices which draw the wire from supply-spoolsat the proper rate to be covered, and it is necessary to lead off the covered wire at the same rate or with a tension that isnot too great to overcome that of the feed-rolls. Various means have been employed heretofore for accomplishing this; but so far as I am aware no practical means has been used which was wholly automatic in its operation of winding the wire and in which the tension upon the wire was capable of easy, quick, and accurate adjustment, and which was not unduly expensive on this account. By the devices which I have devised for this purpose the operation of winding the wire as it comes from the braiders is continuous and automatic, while the tension may be readily and exactly adjusted in avery simple and effective'way.

I shall explain my improvement by reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate awinding-spool and tension-regulator, while from the nature of the devices and their principle of operation it will be seen that the invention is generally applicable to any purpose where a wire, a cord, or the like is to be withdrawn from any apparatus at a regulated tension.

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of my improved winding device- Fig. 2 is a horizontal plan view of the same, and Fig. 3 is a side elevation looking from the rear or toward the right as the device is represented in F, which is preferably hollow to secure lightness and provided with a pulley Gr. in dotted lines in Fig. l.)

A A are arms loosely mounted on the extended bearings of the shaft F and forming extended bearing-supportsfor the shaft B of a spool or reel I. The ends of these arms are turned up or provided with stops L, and flanges M are formed or provided along their upper or bearing edges to confine the ends of the reel-shaft and prevent lateral displacement of the same. V

The outer or free ends of the arms A A are supported by rods O, pivoted to the standards H, andare designed to be held at any desired angle for the purpose hereinafter set forth. This adjustment may be eifected in many ways, as by shifting the point of connection between the rods 0 and the arms, or by providing a series of holes in the rods to receive supporting-pins upon which the arms rest, or by both means or any other, the essential feature being to raise or lower the bearing of the spool or reel with reference to the axis of the driving-shaft F.

Rotation is imparted to the reel I by the frictional engagement of its flanges with the driving-shaft F. Hence as the arms A A are raised acorrespondingly greater proportion of the weight of the reel is imposed upon (Shown the shaft F and the friction increased in like ra tio. By adjusting, therefore,-the inclination of the arms the tension on the wire or cord which is wound on the reel may be varied to any extent desired, according to practical requirements.

For the particular purpose for which this improvement was designedI have found that the construction illustrated is amply sufiicient for all practical purposes. This consists in forming a series of notches in the under edges of the arms A A and providing a series of holes in the rods 0, into which pins are inserted that engage with the notches. The bearing-surfaces of the arms should also be substantially parallel with aradius of the driving-shaft and so that the axial centers of the driving-shaft and reel shall always lie in the same radial line.

In practice a large number of the adjustable winding-reels above described may be mounted side by side on one or on both sides of a driving-shaft. When they are supported on opposite sides of the same shaft, the arms A A to save space, may be made as indicated in Fig. 2that is to say, with the end of one which loosely surrounds the sleeve or bearing E bifurcated and the other solid, so that the latter may be placed between the two parts of the former.

I have found that these devices effect a great saving in the labor and skill required in disposing of the wire as it comes from the braiders and that a single attendant is able to attend to a number of machines and at the same time make all the necessary adjustments required by the increasing weight of the reels, the diameter of the roll of wire, and the conditions of the braider.

The details of the construction of the devices may be greatly varied, and, as before explained, the apparatus may be applied to a great variety of uses; but

What I claim as my invention is 1. A winding device for wires, cords and the like, comprising in combination a drivingshaft, a winding-reel in frictional engagement therewith, and means for adjusting the position of said reel about the axis of the drivingshaft whereby more or less of its weight will be imposed upon said shaft and the tension upon the wire or cord thereby varied.

2. A winding device of the kind described, comprising in combination a driving-shaft, radial arms or supports adjustable around said shaft. a winding-reel supported by extended bearings on said arms and in frictional engagement with the driving-shaft, and means for varying the elevation of the supporting-arms to throw more or less of the weight of the reel upon the driving-shaft, set forth.

3. The combination with a driving-shaft, of arms or supports mounted to turn about the axis thereof, a winding-reel in frictional engagement with said shaft and supported by extended bearings on said arms, and rods pivoted to a fixed support and adapted to support the free ends of the arms in positions adjustable at will, whereby more or less of the weight of the winding-reel may be imposed upon the driving-shaft, as set forth.

4. The combination with standards and a driving-shaft mounted thereon; of supporting-arms adapted to be raised or lowered relative to the shaft as a pivot, said arms having notches in their lower edges; a winding-reel, supported by the arms on their upper edges and in frictional engagement with said shaft; and supporting-rods pivoted to the standards and provided with pins to engage notches in the supporting-arms; as set forth.

CAR-L F. OBERMAIER. 

